72 Hours
by Kickin Taylor
Summary: "Come with me to Ireland." He breath. Walters Father has 72 hours to live and He has to go back home to Callan, Ireland. He takes Paige and Ralph with him.
1. Chapter 1

_**_Scorpion_**_

"Good morning!" Paige sings as she enters the garage early Monday morning. She struggles with several grocery store bags, the plastic weighing down and leaving indents on her arms. "I bought stuff to refill the fridge! Anyone mind helping?"

She doesn't know why she ever really bothers to ask, as usual the geniuses were all enthralled with in their own private projects.

"Oh, good morning!" Walter surprises her, stopping his project and grabbing all the groceries from her and leading the trek towards the kitchen. "And uh, thank you."

Paige smiles at him as he sets the bags down on the counter.

"Thank you, Walter." She smiles pleasantly, putting her hand on his shoulder for only a moment and she couldn't help but feel satisfied when he doesn't freeze up.

Greetings are something she had been working on with him; social cue came next and lastly, was touch. Though all three had improved, Walter still didn't appreciate being touched and still tended to freeze up.

The liaison couldn't help but notice he hadn't frozen up to her specific touch for a while.

His phone vibrates and he sends the call to voicemail with a small, temporary frown.

"Everything okay?" She questions curiously and nods.

"Yeah, thanks again-Oh and here," Walter smiles and hands her a mug of coffee he had made for her. He had added cinnamon to the coffee pot and though he claimed it was to improve brain function, the only person convinced that was true was the liaison herself.

Subconsciously, Walter assumes he had done it because he knew that was how she liked her coffee, just liked he had noticed that he tended to subconsciously reserve his favorite mug for her everyday.

She takes a sip of the coffee and moans in pleasure as it makes her way down her throat.

"Yum...perfect, thank you." She runs a hand over his arm thankfully and he smiles at her proudly. "You know I had my first cup of coffee the night after Ralph was born."

"He cried a lot?" He questions in surprise as he leans on the opposite side of the counter than her. He holds his coffee mug to his mouth, not yet taking a sip. It's uncommon for geniuses- even _babies_ to cry more than usual.

In fact, being a baby is probably the best time of a geniuses life, the mind is constantly stimulated with new idea, words, information and phenomena that make life interesting. Until inevitably, the way of the world all becomes, normal, boring and the farthest from stimulating.

"No, I just loved to watch him sleep." Paige smiles gently, " The miracle of life, thinking of how that baby came out of me."

Walter refrains from reminding her that having a baby was not a miracle, it was biology. They had already fought over what topic several times and decided to agree to disagree.

"What about you?"

"Huh?" He raises an eyebrow in confusion. " I don't have any kids."

Paige giggles.

"I know, I mean your first cup of coffee."

"Oh," Walter blushes, "I was nine. My dad didn't want me to have it but there was a lecture on TV I wanted to be awake for." Walter shifts uncomfortably. "In Ireland."

"Where in Ireland did you live?"

"Callan." Walter answers dismissively and Paige nods, not wanting to push him too hard.

"Okay." She smiles.

They stay silent for a few moments each pretending to be lost in the enjoyment of their coffees as they childishly sneak glances at each other, until Walter finally speaks.

"So, Paige. I was thinking that after school, maybe Ralph could come over and I could take him to the updated space exhibit down town." Walter asks nervously, his gaze shifting between the floor and the liaison as he awkwardly scratches the side of his head with his index finger.

Paige smiles gently towards him and he seems to visibly relax.

"Yeah, sure. I think he would love that." Walter nods and smiled at her for a moment, a special smile Paige had noticed was just for her. She could feel a box of butterflies being let loose in her stomach, even as he began to walk away, sending another phone call to voice messages. She takes another sip of her coffee before finishing to unpack the groceries.

"Oh and Paige!" He quickly turns.

She was reaching for a container on the top shelf when she heard him come up behind her and easily pass it to the liaison.

"Thank you." She practically sings as she gets off her tippy toes and turns to face him. Her breath hitches when she notices his proximity to her and he can't help but notice he was holding his breath aswell.

"Yes?" Paige whispers, her heart rate accelerating as she spoke.

"I-uh, wanted to know if you would come with Ralph and I, I would uh-we would really enjoy that." His figures twitch slightly but didn't move toward her.

Paige glances down and notices the twitch, she gently grabbed his hand and he held it tightly- protectively even, as she nods yes. She bites her lip nervously. This action catches the mans attention and he subconsciously begins leaning toward her.

Her heart races as he leans toward her and she finds her own eyes closing as she raises herself on the tips of her toes. She had accepted after his accident a couple months ago that she cared for Walter more than a coworker should. Especially after they had kissed on his first night back at the garage.

She remembers the fear pulsing through her vain's as she watched helplessly from the top of the cliff as the red sports car began to slide down the side if the cliff with her Walter inside and the relief she felt the moment Cabe set him down on the stretcher. She sometimes notices him wince in pain and he tended to avoid strenuous activities outside of a case.

She remembers the fear when his parachute had fallen off of him when they were high off the ground trying to save the K12 satellite from destroying Southern California and when they kissed that night... She shivers. Professional colleagues. Yeah, right.

She feels Walter moving towards her slowly, and she remains unmoving and patient.

But then she felt it.

He was freezing up, showing too much of his emotional quotient and she opens her eyes as she feels a quick peck on her cheek.

She blinks in surprise; the butterflies in her stomach raked her body and caused a shiver of pleasure. Her face heats up when she realizes he had noticed her reaction.

He takes a step away from her, but surprisingly not to far away.

"I would love to come Walter." She clears her throat, ignoring the tingling in her right cheek.

He smiles at her, a smile more genuine than she could have ever imagined.

She raises herself and kisses his cheek without thinking. Giggling at the lip-gloss it left in its place.

It's then that Scorpions phone rings.

Usually, Paige would yell for someone to get it but she loves this moment she was having with Walter, even if she knows it was coming to an end.

"Hi, you've reached Scorpion! Sorry we missed your call, please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as we can. Thank you!" Paige's voice on the message machine rang through the garage.

"I like your voice." Walter mumbles, glancing down at her fingers in his.

She blushes.

" _Walt'r_ , I tried to reach yer cell phone but you -" Walter's eyes widens at the sound of the Irish accent and he quickly drops the liaisons hand and runs towards the phone, knocking over various objects on his way. He practically ripped the phone off the receiver.

Paige follows behind him as the rest of team scorpion assembles around the machine.

"Mum?" Walter asks, though he knows the response. He sounds younger than the team had ever heard him before. He sounds vulnerable. It was quite the contrast against the dress shirt and coffee mug he had grabbed on the way there. "Are you alright?"

There was a long pause as the woman on the phone spoke to Scorpion's leader and everyone watches on with surprised and confused expressions.

"See that?" Toby whispers beside the liaison making her jump.

"What?" She asks with her arms crossed as she waits from farther away from the group.

"His grip tightening around the cup, a clear indicator of discomfort." Paige couldn't help wonder if that would be how Ralph felt around her if she hadn't met Walter.

Mr. 197 stiffens.

"Okay, I'll tell Megan." He states emotionlessly, smashing the coffee mug in his hand, causing broken glass and cinnamon coffee to spill all over the table floor.

Paige gasps and runs towards him, unthinkingly grabbing his hand and inspecting it for injury.

There was some blood but nothing deep enough that Toby needed to be the one to clean him up. He pulls his hand away from her and she rolls her eyes, grabbing the first aid kit from Sylvester who had run to get it as soon as the mug had shattered.

Walter doesn't fight her when she puts alcohol on the cut, he doesn't even wince. She begins to worry what was happening on the other side of the line.

"How long?" Walter questions quietly. "Seventy two hours?"

His first clenches as she attempts to put on the bandage but she forces his hand open until she is finished.

"Ok, bye."

"Tell her you love her." Paige whispers.

Walter nods his head no. Paige sighs.

"Tell her you care for her."

Walter holds the liaisons gaze for a moment.

"Mum," He says stiffly, " I uh, _care_ about you."

A few moments later he hangs up the phone and sits across from her, his hand still outstretched in her direction as she inspects his hand for more glass.

"She liked that, thank you." He says and Paige nods.

"Dare to share?" Toby intrusively slides into the seat beside him.

"No."

"Is Megan okay?" Sly asks nervously.

"Yes." The two men and the rest of scorpion remain silent.

"Meanie." Toby breaks the silence and sticks his tongue out at his boss before leaving to continue his own private project.

The remaining Geniuses of the Scorpion team disperse and Paige gets up to follow, thinking Walter needed to collect his thoughts.

"Paige!" Walter grabs her hand and pulls her back. She blinks in surprise.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks in confusion, she almost sounds hopeful.

"Not yet." He frowns, " I need to borrow your car, Happy isn't finished with mine."

"What about Ralph? I have to pick him up in an hour."

"I plan to be back by then but if I'm not, I'll call Cabe."

Paige hesitates and Walter quickly figures out why.

"I'm not racing, I just finished my community service. I just have to speak to Megan."

"Just- just be careful." She nods handing him the key to the red Chevy outside.

He nods and heads towards the door.

"I mean uh- thank you and I'll see you later." He announces as he exits the garage.

"Something bad is happening." Toby mumbles and Paige warily bites her lip trying to figure out how such a good morning can go so curiously wrong in one short phone call.

 _ **_Scorpion_**_

"Hey, is Walter back yet?" Paige questions as she entered the garage with her ten-year-old son, Agent Cabe Gallo not to far behind. Ralph was bouncing on the balls of his feet; apparently Walter and him had been speaking about the new exhibit for weeks and only asked his mother now.

"Not yet." Happy mumbles as she sits backwards on a chair reading a book about anger.

"He should be back by now." Paige points out worrily just as the garage door opened.

"Walter." She sighs in relief until she looks at his face, his eyes were a bit wider and redder than when he left. They shined from the tears he refused to shed. He nods in her direction and heads towards Ralph.

"Hey buddy," Walter says playing with the kids hair, the small boy frowns, looking more and more like his mentor everyday.

"We aren't going are we?" Walter nods.

"No Ralph, sorry. Something came up." The boy sighs I ndisappointment and heads towards Sylvester's chalkboard. The rest of the team watches Walter uneasily.

It wasn't like him to cancel on Ralph.

"Paige." Walter nods towards the liaison and Paige looks at him worrily. "Could I speak with you for a moment outside."

The liaison nods and gestures towards Sylvester to watch her son.

When they step outside the liaison quickly turns to face him.

"What happened to you?" She questions, her voice thick with concern when she puts her hand on his shoulder and begins inspecting him for injury. "Are you hurt?"

doesn't freeze up but he shy's away from her touch. She retracts her hand with a small frown.

"Not here." He tells her and leads her towards the car he had left running.

They remain silent as Walter carefully drives around the block, stopping the car in front of a children's park but making no move to get out.

"Walter?"

"I was just with Megan." Walter begins quietly, his palms press against his eyes and his elbows balance on the steering wheel.

Paige waits for him to continue, careful to keep her hands to herself in fear of him pulling away again.

When he doesn't continue, she bites her lip nervously and angles herself towards him.

"Is she okay?"

"What?" He sucks in a breath and looks at her in confusion, barely registering what she was saying. "Yeah, she's fine. I'm going to send Sylvester to her when we get back."

"You're being evasive." Paige whispers as she catches his eye. She knows something was wrong and she is worried, but it doesn't stop the butterflies reeking havoc in her stomach.

"We were making arrangements, for me go to go back home." He sighs, his head leaning back in his seat. " To _Ireland_ , and I don't know when I'm coming back."

The liaison freezes, her jaw dropping and her heart rate begining to speed up as her eyes widen.

"Ireland?" Her voice cracks.

"Yeah." He sighed, his elbows covering his eyes.

"Forever?" She chokes out her question.

"What? No." He looks at her confused again and her breathing begins to return to its normal rhythm. "I hope, a week at most."

"Gosh Walter." She leans her head back in relief. " You made it sound like you were moving there permanently."

"Sorry." He mumbles and shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

"Why are you going?"

"My father has 72 hours to live. There are no solutions."

"Oh." Is all Paige could manage to say as she carefully watches the genius. He's trying not to show emotion, he's looking up as if willing the tears in his eyes to disappear.

"I'm so sorry-"

"I'm telling you this because I know that you were planning Christmas at the garage next week and I don't know if I will be there." He says quickly, restarting the engine of the car and beginning to head towards the garage. "It's efficient."

"Oh." For a moment, she had almost hoped that he had actually wanted comfort. Maybe he would even share a bit about his childhood, a secret life he refused to divulge.

"I mean I wish you would be here but your place is with your mother, send her my condolences. I'm sure what she is going through is painful. I can't imagine what she is feeling right now." Paige sighs as she leans into the seat.

"That's the other thing." He says pulling up to Scorpion's headquarters and taking the key from the ignition.

"The other thing?" Paige questions warily as Walter exits the vehicle and makes his way to open her door. This being an action he had learned on a case from long ago.

"When dealing with my mother, on an average day, we can't communicate. But with the news of my father, I don't know what to say or do."

Paige leans against the car and listens intently as he nervously continues.

"I'm ill equipped." Walter admits, leaning beside her and scratching his head.

"I could give you a couple tips if that's what you are asking for." Paige tells him reassuringly, " The first would be not to repress your feelings. You smash and break things." She frowns and gestures to the bandage on his hand.

Walter hesitates.

"Right, but that's not what I'm asking-"

"Your asking for advice on communicating with your mother, I get it and I could help-"

"I'm asking you to come with me!" Walter exclaims in frustration.

"Come with me to Ireland." He breaths.

The liaison froze, a shiver of pleasure making its way down her spine.

"Me?"

"And Ralph."

There it was, her _most important thing_ , and her reality check.

"I would love to. But Ralph has school." She sighs.

"But Caltech, his college, isn't in session and he knows everything in elementary anyway, he won't fall behind, and it's only couple days because it's Christmas anyway."

Paige bites her lip and looks into the geniuses eyes.

His eyes looked as though he was begging her though his voice gave off a casual tone.

"Only come is you want to." He mumbles insincerely, but she wants to come and he's right. Ralph wouldn't mind it and he would love to learn more about Walter. He's never even left the United States before and he would love too.

"When do we leave?"

Walter sighs in relief.

"Tonight. I'll pick you up at six." His fingers inch towards her, in fact his whole body does so the liaison reaches out and hugs him. He doesn't hug back exactly, but he doesn't pull away either and she could almost swear he moved his lips to deliver a small kiss to her neck.

She shivers again.

"There is a condition." She whispers and she feels Walter freeze up before she continues. " We stay in Ireland for Christmas, with your mother. It will help her feel a lot better and right now, it's the right thing to do."

Walter sighs against her shoulder.

"K." Is all he says and when his coworkers pulls away, Paige notices a tear had made its way down his cheek and wipes it away.

 _That was EQ._

Paige can't help kissing him quickly on the cheek before heading inside to get her son, knowing that if she didn't walk away right then, he would probably shut down on her, and she couldn't handle that. His EQ had improved tremendously since the accident on the cliffs edge and she couldn't help but hope that maybe-just maybe- his EQ could make room for one more emotion.

Love.

But she knew she was just being crazy, even if he had admitted to liking her. It wasn't love. It was just an attraction.

She didn't know Walter was watching her walk away, thinking the same thing.

 _ **_Scorpion_**_

"My father is dying!" Walter announces as he enters the garage twenty minutes after watching the liaison drive." Seventy two hours at most."

"That was casual." Toby comments sliding out from behind his desk.

"Id10t." Happy mutters, putting her wrench down and sliding her mask up.

"Listen, son-" Cabe begins and steps towards Walter.

"Drive Sylvester to Megan please. She could use him." The agent nods but makes no move to listen.

"I'm leaving for a week." He says heading towards the loft, " So I'm taking off from work. You can contact us in an emergency, I'll leave you the number."

"Which is basically every case." Happy mutters.

"You said we but Megan can't travel." Toby notices, watching his boss carefully.

Walter hesitates at the top of the staircase.

"Yeah, Paige and Ralph are coming with me." He enters his room, closing the door behind him and begins packing up his stuff.

 **_Scorpion_**

 **Hi! I wasn't planning on posting this quite so soon but I saw a #SpoilerAlert that Walter's parents were coming in so I** _ **wanted to get this out before all attempt at accuracy goes to heck.**_

 **So this was written** _ **between Season 1 & 2**_ **and I attempted to update it as the show progressed and I hoped that worked out.**

 **I worked really hard on this story so all I'm asking is for a** _ **review.**_

 **This a was a really long chapter and Took EFFORT so..**

 _ **Please Review**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**_Scorpion_**_

 _ **In my defense, i tried posting this 9 times already.**_

 _ **Im not waiting for the real episode to come out ;)**_

At six o'clock sharp, Ralph swings open the front door before Walter has the chance to knock.

"Being on time is more efficient." Ralph smiles happily explaining how he knew Walter would be there.

The mentor smiles at the boy.

"Correct."

Walter enters the room and catches Paige attempting to drag a duffle bag that was twice her size, out of her room. She was unaware of his presence. Her hair was in a messy bun on top of her head and a few strands block his attempts of getting a clear view of her face.

He makes his way towards her and gently touches her back, making her jump in surprise.

"Walter!" She exclaims, she straitens up and begins adjusting her clothing, her face turning red from embarrassment.

"You'll hurt your back like that." He points out, easily lifting the bag and putting it by the apartment door.

"Oh, thank you." She says, quickly letting her hair down and attempting to look presentable in front of her boss. "Your early."

"No he's not." Ralph looks at her with a confused expression. "It's six."

Paige blushes again as Walter smiles at her son.

"Oh, I guess your right."

Walter chuckles and there is a knock on the door.

"Are you expecting someone?" Walter asks as she heads towards the door.

"Not that I know of." She mumbles as she looks through the peephole. "Oh, shoot. It's Drew."

Walters's body takes a subconscious defensive stance.

"Ralph did you remember to call your dad and tell him that you can't sleepover tonight?"

The boy's eyes grew wider, feigning innocence as he looks as his mothers.

"I must have forgotten." He shrugs too innocently.

Paige sighs as Drew knocks again, believing her son while Walter watches him with confusion.

Ralph _doesn't_ forget anything.

"Walter, do you mind helping Ralph get his bag from his room?"

The genius hesitates but nods and heads towards the young boy's room, with him in toe.

"Forgot?" Walter questions. "What were you doing that you forgot?"

"It's an experiment." Ralph admits as they enter the room, watching his mother open the door.

"What kind of experiment?" Walter asks as Ralph closes the door, leaving a crack for him and Mr.197 to spy through.

"Social." He whispers, " I'm testing a theory based on jealousy."

"What's your hypothesis? What do you think your mothers jealous of?"

"Not Mom, Drew. Just watch."

The geniuses nod at each other and the older one plays with the younger geniuses hair as they watch the scene unfold.

"Sorry, I thought he called you." Paige tells Drew, " It's not like Ralph to forget."

"So maybe we could go out tomorrow night? I flew out here to see _you_ for the weekend." He slowly steps towards her before remembering, " -and Ralph."

Paige bites her lip nervously. Walter stands stiff in the other room, his hand frozen in Ralph's hair. The small genius rolls his eyes.

"Um, as great as that sounds." She takes a nervous step away from him, "We actually aren't going to be here for quite a bit…."

It's then that Drew looks around and notices the suitcase by the door.

"Where are you going?"

"We uh, have some last minute arrangements to go to Ireland." Paige makes her way into the kitchen and sits down on a stool and not making eye contact as her voice rises.

"Ireland?" Drew questions, sitting across from her.

"Yeah, we'll be back sometime after Christmas."

"Why? What's in Ireland?"

Ralph looks up at Walter.

"Watch this." And before Walter has the chance to stop him, the boy runs from the room.

"Mom, Walter wants to know if he should bring your bag to the car." Ralph lies to his mother, before turning to the baseball player. "Hi Dad."

"Walter!?" Drew ignores his son and stands up. "You'll go to Ireland with _Walter_ for _Christmas_ but you can't come to Maine for one lousy weekend?" He yells at her.

Walter is stunned by his outburst.

"Drew!" Paige responds, before taking a deep breath. "I've sent Ralph to you for the weekend before."

"But you couldn't leave your _geek of a boss_ long enough to come along and-"

" _Drew!"_ Paige cuts off the washed out reliever, before taking a deep and exaggerated breath. "Ralph, tell Walter I'll be there in a minute, and wait with him in your room."

The boy nods and takes off back towards Walter as Paige turns on Drew.

"Not that it's any of your business but I'm going as a favor to him."

"Are you sleeping with him too? Is that how you got this fancy government job?" Drew accuses, feeling a slap on his cheek so strong, it left Paige's handprint.

Fancy? She works in a garage.

"That's prostitution." He hisses in her face and Walter could feel his anger building.

"How dare you." She hisses, his face inches from her and she pushes him away. " _Get_ out."

"If you get pregnant, don't think he'll be a better father than I was. "

"Oh, father of the year." Walter finally steps out of the room and Paige's checks redden knowing he had heard their conversation.

"Of course he's here." Drew hisses as Walter makes his way towards Paige.

Paige doesn't notice when she angles herself a bit behind Walter while he subconsciously steps a bit in front of her.

"You should go." Paige tells Drew, "now."

Drew nods and exits without bothering to say goodbye to his son.

The tension is thick in the apartment after he leaves.

"That was interesting." Walter eventually says.

Paige sighs.

"Drew's a jealous Jerk." And Walter notices the smiling boy spying from his bedroom.

The journey to the airport is mostly silent besides for the excitement Ralph was exhibiting which was way beyond his EQ level impressing both his mentor and his mother, especially because he was excitedly telling them the statistical possibly of never actually making it Ireland.

It isn't until they are boarding the plane that Ralph tugs on his mentors hand to get his attention when his mother enters the stuffy airplane. Walter lens down so the boy could whisper in his ear.

"The experiment was a success." He whispers before following his mother on board.

Walter can't help but smile as he hands the attendant his ticket.

 _ **_Scorpion_**_

"How long is this flight?" Paige groans after five hours on the airplane.

"Five and a half more hours to London, and then fifty minutes to Dublin." Walter is fidgeting, he's feeling bored and tiered but he was attempting not to move because even though Ralph had the window seat, he still fell asleep against him.

"I thought you live in Callan."

"And another hour and approximately thirty eight minutes by car to Callan." Walter adds and Paige groans. "That's why I didn't mention it." The pair laughs.

"I'm so tired." She yawns, laying her head back on her aisle seat.

"You could, Um, lay against me if you want, Ralph is doing too...anyway." Walter offers from his middle seat. Paige smiles gently and leans her head on his shoulder.

197 remains unmoving and uncomfortable for a few minutes in the attempt to keep the Dineen family asleep but he notices Paige continuously readjusting her position. She uncomfortable, he realizes.

Carefully, he lifts his arm, putting it gently around her shoulder like he had seen on television during his time in the hospital over the past summer.

Paige looks up at him, surprise written on her face before settling against his side.

It doesn't take Paige long to fall asleep after that and Walter remains still, his restlessness settling as he watches her sleep.

"You have a very nice family." The flight attendant says as she rolls pass him.

"Thank you." He smiles at her, pulling both Dineen's closer to him. "And your son, he's adorable!"

"Oh he's not-"

"He has your _nose_ , for sure!" She complements.

Walter blinks in shock.

No he doesn't.

"Thank you." Is all he says, a small smile plastered on his face.

"Your welcome!" She sings, adjusting her hat, "Water?"

 _ **_Scorpion_**_

"That was my school." Walter points out to Ralph as they enter Callan Ireland.

"It looks worse than mine." Ralph admits from beside him.

"Ralph!" Paige quickly reprimands.

"Sorry."

"It's okay Paige," He chuckles towards her before turning back to her son. "He's right. It was heck."

The small family chuckles.

"You know this is Ralph's first time out of the country." Paige smiles.

"Opps, sorry." Walter apologizes, only half joking.

"For what?" Ralph looks at him confused.

"For bringing you here. To Ireland." He shrugs, "Its not exactly Universal Studios."

"It's your home." Paige sighs, " There are memories here you can't have anywhere else."

"Actually, I have a photographic memory and an IQ of 197. If I wanted to re-live my memories, I could with minimal effort required. Geniuses don't easily forget."

Paige rolls her eyes, thinking about it.

It was true; she couldn't think of an instance where Walter had ever forgotten anything. He was his own checklist.

"Wait a sec!" Paige exclaims suddenly as the car pulls through a gate and through a big field. "Ralph's a genius and he forgot to call Drew."

The two geniuses look at each other, eyes wide and begin laughing at the exact same moment.

"S-sorry Ralph." 197 laughs.

It doesn't take Paige to long to discover that her son lied.

"Ralph!"

"It was for science!"

Walter continues laughing as he listens to the whole exchange and because of this Paige couldn't be mad at Ralph. He was laughing, jovial and well, happy. The only time she had seen Walter like that was in security footage after he was drugged.

"We 're here." The driver exclaims making all his passengers silent.

Paige frowns as Walter silently becomes anchored to his seat.

"Great." He sighs as they drive on the dirt road through the long drive way.

"Is that your mother?" Paige whispers, pointing at the opening front door of the surprising small house in the surprisingly big field.

He watches his mother come outside.

"It's too cold outside for her not to be wearing a jacket." He observes her red tired eyes, the towel she clutches to her chest and all the _emotion_ written on his face.

"I shouldn't have come here, I'll just make it worse." He sighs, running his hands over his face and leaning back in his seat.

"No, you will be fine and not just because you brought me. But im here to help you." She puts her hand on his shoulder and squeezes it before pulling it away, "Now in ten seconds, this car will stop and you will get out and hug your mother-"

"Paige-"

"And you'll tell her you love her. Not like, not care. _Love_ her. With a kiss on her cheek."

"Paige, I never did that as a child. Hugging and Kissing her isn't what she expects from-"

"But that's what she _needs_ as you could clearly see. She _needs_ family and right now, your all she has." Paige whispers, putting a gentle hand on his arm. Ralph continues looking out the window. HEs silent for a minute, thinking.

"Okay?" She questions, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Okay." He mumbles as the car stops.

He opens the door and his mother runs to him, stopping a few feet away. She was careful not to touch him.

"Walter!" She cries and he freezes up for a moment.

"Mum." He hesitates, looking back at the liaison.

She nods encouragingly and he lifts his arms, gently wrapping his arms around his mother and pulling her close to him.

"I- um. I love you mum." He tells her and Paige could swear the woman's smile was enough to light up the whole neighborhood, even if she was mourning her husband.

Paige is surprised when Ralph slowly wraps his hands around her and she holds him tightly back.

' _He is copying Walter._ ' She realizes.

She doesn't notice that she kisses Ralph's forehead at the same moment Mrs. O'Brian kisses her sons. But the liaison watches when Walter moves his lips ever so slightly, he kissed his mother. And she definitely notices her son pulling her closer to where he still wore his seatbelt and kisses her cheek. Just like his mentor.

She had never felt so much love from her son than at that particular moment when she felt her heart melt. She smiles with tears in her eyes.

Mrs. O'Brian seems to have recovered from shock when she finally pulls away.

"So, you said you were bringing a friend." She remembers, her accent significantly thicker than Walters. "Well, who is he?"

"Well, I actually wrote I was being _two_ people." Walter reminds her, opening the trunk and beginning to unload the bags. It's then that Paige decides to break the worthwhile embrace with her only child to get out of the car.

"It's a girl!" Mrs. O'Brian exclaims in surprise.

Walter rolls his eyes knowing that no one was around to see.

"Astute observation." He mutters.

"Hi I'm Paige Dineen." She introduces as Ralph climbs out behind her."And this is my son Ralph."

"Well hello Ralph!" She exclaims but the genius doesn't answer and looks down shyly.

"Mum, a word?" Walter questions deciding that warning his mother about Ralph now was the most efficient option.

The O'Brian's walk about ten steps from the other mother and son pair.

"Ralph is a genius, like me. So if he acts like I did a child, you know why." He warns her, " But Paige is normal and a fantastic mother so you'll find he's more talkative than I was, after you get to know him."

Mrs. O'Brian looks at her son in shock.

"Another one?"

"Yes." He confirms looking over her shoulder to check on Paige, only to watch her attempt to pull another suitcase from the trunk.

"Walter-" His mother begins.

"Paige, you'll hurt yourself. Stop. I'll be there in a minute!" Walter calls to her and she leans against the car, waiting 197.

This act of caring also surprises his mother but he doesn't notice the shocked look on her face.

"Are you dating her?" She questions in confusion, her accent stronger than ever.

"What? No." Walter responds. " She works for my company."

"Right, so we have a problem." She scratches her head nervously. " We don't have enough room. I set up two beds in your room because I thought you only had one friend, and that it was a boy."

"What about Megan's room?"

"Your father has too many machines in his room, I've been sleeping in Megan's room and there is simply no room for another bed."

"Dads here?!" Walter hisses in frustration. " Why isn't he in a hospital?"

"Because if he's going to die-" She begins, tears beginning to well in her eyes as she yells at him, he straitens up. "He wants to be at home."

Walter remains silent, unsure what to do to his mother crying in front of him. He looks at Paige, desperate for an answer and she responds by rubbing her sons back. Walter quickly reenacts the same motion with his mother and she begins to calm down.

"I'll sleep on the couch, don't worry. Or I'll go to a hotel." He begins leading his mother towards Paige who is quick to handle the emotional situation. Meanwhile, he unloads the van and pays the aggravated driver- the Robotic situation.

197 would take heaving lifting over emotion everyday and he knew Ralph would too. So handed the boy the lightest suitcase and they began heading up the staircase.

"Whoa!" Ralph exclaims entering his mentor's old childhood bedroom, staring at the blue and white papers being used as wall paper. " Is that-?"

"Yeah, just don't tell Cabe." Walter laughs, "He doesn't know."

"Wow." Ralph repeats in astonishment, running towards the wall.

"What is it exactly?" Paige questions, walking in behind Walter.

"The shuttle blue prints from NASA!" Ralph explains in excitement while Walter chuckles. "It dates back to 1994!"

"I thought you were arrested for that."

"Doesn't mean I didn't get what I wanted in the end." Walter shrugs dropping her bag.

"So this is your room..." She mused circling around the small area.

"Yeah." He scratches his head awkwardly, "Haven't seen it in a while."

"It's really cute Walter." She complements.

"Thank you." He nods. " I'm sleeping on the couch in the living room if you need anything. I should go see my father and -"

"You're sleeping on the couch?" Paige questions. "What's wrong with a bed?"

"My mothers in Megan's room so you two could share in here."

"Can't you stay with us?" Ralph questions.

Walter is surprised when Paige doesn't argue.

"I- uh, I don't know." He admits awkwardly. Since he and Paige had kissed a few months ago, he could feel tension continually building up between them. He glances at Paige, chewing on her lip as she nervously awaits his response.

No. Not a chance.

"The time difference is eight hours and though you may feel inclined to rest, I recommend staying up late to beat the jet lag." He states. "I'll be on the couch."

He hastily exits the room and makes his way towards his parent's old room.

"Come in." A quiet voice rings through the wooden door as soon as he knocks.

"Dad."

"Walter." The man smiles at him, reminding his son of his strong accent. The man had machines surrounding his bed, wires coming in and out of him from different parts of his body. He looked…well, sick.

" I need to be diein' to get you to visit."

Walter forces a chuckle, recognizing the mans attempt at a joke.

He nods to his mother when he notices her sitting by his father's side.

When it becomes silent again, the genius begins wishing he brought Paige with him for this conversation. She knew how to kill an awkward situation.

"So, mum tells me you brought a girl home." The older man chuckles and pats his wife's hand.

Walter chuckles uncomfortable and readjusts a vacant chair and sitting in it.

"Paige and I just work together. Nothing more."

"And so you brought her home with you? What about the rest of that failing computer service thing you run." Walter blinks.

 _Failing computer service?_

"When was the last time we spoke?" Walter questions, wondering if it was as long ago as he now thinks it is.

"Two years O'Brian." His father mumbles bitterly.

"Oh." Walter blinks. " I'm sorry." He admits. To be honest, he just hadn't noticed. He wasn't exactly the type to call for a casual conversation and he hadn't had the time to call his mother.

"Scorpion isn't a failing computer company anymore, it's-"

"Walter?" A voice rings out.

Walter doesn't notice how his body immediately responds, his body angling towards the door and getting his full attention. Something no person had managed to do since as long as anyone could remember.

His mother raises her eyebrows in surprise.

"Walter?" The voice sings again.

"Yeah! One sec!" He calls back, standing up.

"Nothing between you, eh?" His father chuckles, " You have doe eyes son."

Walter scratches his head uncomfortably.

"I'm just making sure she's okay, her son Ralph is here too. It's his first time out of the U.S." Walter lies.

It's then Paige appears by the door, her hair wet from the shower she must have just taken.

"Walt? Oh, sorry." She blushes. " I just wanted to ask if there was anything I could feed my son. I'll just be going now then-" She starts heading off when Walter grabs her arm and pulls her back in the room.

This was another show of his subconscious affection for her, causing surprise to all three normal faces.

"Paige, this is my father." Walter introduces, bouncing uncomfortably on the balls of his feet. "He decided die here instead of the hospital."

"Hi! It's really great to meet you." Paige smiles, elbowing Walter's side. " I'm sorry about what happened, is there anything we could do to help?"

"Your good with people aren't you?" The man smiles, Paige nods and blushes bashfully. Walter smiles at his liaison. "You should be doing something personable, not working in a computer company. Like, being a waitress or something."

Only Walter notices her stiffen up at the thought of her being a waitress again. He wonders if she still had nightmares but if she did, she didn't disclose the details to him. He makes a mental note to bring it up later.

"Speaking of restaurants, I think I'll take you and Ralph to one down town." Walter is quick to step in.

"Yeah, why don't you stop by the supermarket and get some milk while your out." His mother smiles and hands her baby her car keys. " Show them the place."

"And grab some ice cream while your there." Mr. O'Brian speaks up.

"You can't have that!" Mrs. O'Brian reprimands, "No ice cream."

"What do you care I'm diein' anyway and I'll go to heck before I let that happen without me having a liter of strawberry and banana ice cream."

Paige giggles shyly and starts heading towards the door.

"It's nice to meet you." Paige smiles, " I'll just go tell Ralph the plan."

"Paige!" Mr. O'Brian laughs, stopping her in the doorway and she nods. "Make sure Walter gets my ice cream, it's a dieing mans _last wish_."

Paige chuckles.

"He won't forget, geniuses never do." She winks at Walter before leaving and 197 laughs at the private joke.

"Nothing going on. Yeah okay." Mr. O'Brian chuckles as Walter follows her out of the room resembling a lost puppy in his own house.

A house he'll never forget.

 _ **_Scorpion_**_

 _ **Author's note**_ **\- I don't curse or say bad words, even if I am in college. That's why I wrote ID10T in the last chapter. Its not texting lingo, it looks like another word that I don't say** _ **.**_

 _ **Please review, you could see I worked hard on this.**_

 _ **Review please.**_


	3. Chapter 3

Ireland 3

"So what do you think?" Walter questions Paige as he turns on the car's ignition.

"About?"

"A dying wish?" Walter questions, "Ralph and I think it's ridiculous."

"Of course you do, that doesn't mean Ralph does."

"It's ridiculous." The boy chirps up from the backseat and Walter smirks at his mother.

"Of course you do." She sighs.

"You don't?" Walter questions, pulling out of his driveway. He isn't really surprised.

"I think it's important. I think it's something to respect. A mans last legacy and what he wants to leave behind." She shrugs. " I don't see how it's ridiculous and I don't think you do either."

Walter practically laughs out loud.

"A man is going to die. He doesn't know what's going to happen next, he won't be alive to see it."

"It's illogical for him to even care." Ralph chirps in.

"Exactly." Walter smiles. Paige smiles slightly. She loved the interaction between her son and his mentor. Even if they were arguing one the validity of a mans dyeing wish.

"I still think if it came down to it, you would honor the wish."

"Maybe if it's not inconvenient." He says light heartedly as they speed through the town.

"What did your father ask of you?"

"Nothing yet." Walter admits. "But it could be a wide range if things that I probably won't like."

"Will you do it?"

"Probably not." Walter shrugs.

Paige sighs.

"I think you will."

"Why?" He glances at her, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"He's your father and he loves you."

"That's pure emotion, something you and I both know I don't have."

"We both know that isn't true." She glares at him, a slight edge to her voice. "You do care."

She's referencing to the time when he told her that he liked her, while in the sky attempting to save Southern California from the K12 satellite.

He glances at her for a moment but keeps quiet. He observes her body angling away from him, arms crossed in a defensive position.

"Did I hurt you?" He whispers.

Slowly but surely, he has been picking up on the little defenses Paige has. He's spent a lot of his time since the accident observing her body language and emotions. For example, crossing her arms.

He isn't sure if she heard him because she doesn't respond.

She heard him but didn't know how to answer. Meanwhile, Ralph sat in the back seat of the car, already bored of the conversation.

Paige looks down and notices a picture of the ground, 'Merry Christmas' written on the bottom in bright red letters.

"Oh my gosh is that you?" Paige asks, looking at the little boy in the picture. She had never seen a picture of Walter as a child. He was a very quiet or secretive person.

"Oh gosh."

"And that's Megan!" She exclaims picking up the picture and notice all the O'Brian's.

"I was about Ralph's age when that was taken." He glances over; relieved she didn't seem to be upset with him. Ralph holds out his hand expectantly and Paige complies.

"Oh no!" She exclaims, covering her face in disappointment.

"What?"

"I wanted to take a Scorpion Christmas card! I had a list of people I wanted to send it out to on my desk!" She frowns disappointedly, unaware of the solution already brewing in the geniuses mind.

He keeps his ideas silent; he could surprise her later.

"Here we are," He says instead as he pulls up to a restaurant. " It has been here forever, it was my favorite place when I was a child."

"Good, I'm starved." Paige says opening the door and letting her son out. "Why are the doors childproof?"

"Megan." Walter chuckles as he gets out on the car. "I would never be so dumb."

"Walter." Paige warns him.

"Sorry." He was aware that sounded insensitive. "I didn't mean that she was dumb, just the action. Its an old car from when we were children."

Paige smiles at his emotional progress and to his surprise, she slips her arm through his as he stuffs his hand in his pocket.

197 takes Ralph's hand with his free hand and walks the family inside the small Irish restaurant.

"Walter?" A voice sings from behind the register. The woman looks older, her apron askew, her hair was white and her eyes were wide. "Walter O'Brian?"

"Hi Leah." Walter spoke with an accent for the first time that Paige had heard. The liaison looks up at him to be sure he's the one speaking.

The woman jumps out from behind the counter and runs to hug Walter. Paige quickly lets go of her boss's arm, in case she was in the crash zone. Walter accepted the hug as Paige had taught him to do and tried his best not to freeze up.

"Where have you been? We missed you over here! And who is this pretty girl?!" She questions looking at Paige who was looking down with a bashful smile on her face. " And look at this little boy! He has your nose! Is he your son? Wow! Walter! Wow!" She hugs him again.

"Heh, um." He begins scratching his head uncomfortably. "I moved to California with Megan a while back, the medicine in America was superior at the time, for her M.S, you know." Even though it embarrasses him to speak like that in front of Paige, he continues speaking in the strong accent. He found that speaking with an American accent made him harder to understand in Ireland- it was inefficient. "This is Paige Dineen, she um, works with me."

"Hi, I'm the 'um' worker." She extends her hand to shake with a friendly smile while she glares at Walter. He didn't even know what they were, and he has a 197 IQ. He ignores her.

"And this is Ralph." He messes with his hair. He doesn't continue to explain that he wasn't related to Ralph, he hated the constant reminders.

"Well Ms. Paige and Mr. Ralph! Free meal for you three." She declared.

"Oh you don't have to do that-" Paige began.

"Oh Please! Anything for Walter O'Brian!" She smiles and kisses Paige on the cheek before heading back towards the kitchen.

"She's sweet." Paige comments as she watches the naturally happy woman stride away.

"Not really sure why she likes me so much." He smiles, crossing her arms.

"I think you're very likeable." She teases as she grabs on to his arm again. She's quick to let go as she bitterly comments: "But what do I know, im just the help."

"Seriously?" He turns to face her, a wide smiles on his face. Its rare that he's ever really in a laughing and jovial mood. She loved it.

They smile brightly at each other, and he contemplates leaning in. They like each other so screw scorpion. He was about to- just one kiss-

"Walter O'Brian." A stern voice sounded and Paige watched her boss go ridged as he slowly faces the voice.

He locks his jaw and Paige looks at him warily when he remains silent.

"So it is you." The man was older, white and in a suit. Paige squeezes Walter's arm reassuringly though she is unaware of what she was reassuring him off.

She notices Ralph take Walters hand and stand closer to him.

" ." Walter hisses. Paige watches the two adults stare each other down for an uncomfortable thirteen seconds before deciding to step in.

"Hi, I'm Paige. " She stretches out her hand to shake the elders man hand but Walter takes her hand and holds it in his, pulling her farther away from the stranger and closer to him.

"Keep your hands to yourself, he might hit it with a ruler." Walter warns. "He used to do it to me at least three times a day when he was my teacher."

Paige sighs.

"An authority figure." She mumbles and nods in silent understanding.

"You were insubordinate." The Man hissed.

"You were ridiculous and constantly wrong." Walter shrugs mumbles so only Paige's could hear. She elbows him.

"I wasn't intentionally a troublemaker." Walter says out loud. "You gave me equations and I gave you the solutions. How was I supposed to know what response you wanted if you didn't define your terms? "

"You were ten years old in my math class! Obviously the answer I wanted didn't involve remainders! I didn't teach that until the next lesson!"

Walter rolls his eyes.

Classic 'normal', taking a large problem and narrowing it down to one incident.

"Ralph, you were about my age when I had for a teacher. Are you up for a math problem?"

Ralph nods yes but Paige steps in.

"Don't get Ralph involved." Paige whispers to Walter.

"He isn't involved, he's helping me prove a point." He defends.

"It's okay Mom, its just math."

"Is this you son?" Daran Kreevy questions, but Walter ignores him.

"105, 212, 988, 703, 556 and 902. From these numbers, which are divisible by four?"

"All of them." Ralph shrugs, "Easy."

"703?" Kreevy questions the child, " 703 is not divisible by four."

"703 divided by four is 175.75. They all work, you just need the remainders." The child explains, looking up at his smiling mentor. Paige frowns.

"It's an easy question." Walter shrugs, "And you gave it to a genius."

"Oh, ok. Maybe it's time I step in." Paige decides, literally stepping in between his boss and the old man but she wasn't there long. Walter pulls her away from the man.

"Well, Mr. O'Brian." hisses, " You know what they say, like father like son."

The old teacher growls before he stalks out of the restaurant.

Walter lets out a victorious breath and high fives Ralph before escorting the small family to an empty booth.

Paige sits across from him and her son, arms crossed with an expectant expression.

"What?"

"Who was that?" Paige questions.

"An old teacher of mine." Walter responds curtly as he hands Ralph a menu.

"I'm waiting for you to elaborate." Paige tells him and Walter locks eyes with her.

"An old math teacher of mine."

"I gathered."

The pair glares at each other for a moments and Ralph observes the exchange. Eventually, Paige sighs.

"Fine." She opens the little book In front of her. " But I thought we were passed all the evasiveness."

Walter remains silent and it isn't until after the small family orders that he speaks to her again.

"I was about three years younger than my other classmates. Would have been more but the school system in 1994 was atrocious." Walter rolled his eyes, " Anyway, was know as a 'hands on teacher.'"

Paige remains silent and watches him nervously fidget with his silver wear.

"He hit you?" Ralph questions.

"Right," Walter nods, "'Hands on the desk, Mr. O'Brian.' He made my distain for authority amplify itself." Walter spits in disgust. "And that is why I hate . Megan used to get me out of trouble with him a lot."

It's then the food arrives and they smile at each other.

"New Topic." Walter declares. Paige winks.

"Strawberry banana Ice cream?"

_Scorpion_

"Lunch was a great idea, thank you!" Paige smiles at Mrs. O'Brian when she got home. The liaison was still reeling from the afternoon she had. Walter had opened up to her about his past, even given her and Ralph a mini- tour of all the places he used to like in Ireland. Ralph's smile never left his face and his hand never left hers or Walter's until they got home.

"Thanks so much for taking me here." The boy had whispered in her ear and her face lit up.

Ralph had met Walter's Dad after that and was now sitting in the sick mans bedroom room with Walter, playing chess and gaping over Walters old telescope. Ralph loves the older model telescopes so Walter had set up the old contraption for the boy. Together, they were enjoying the constellations as Ralph attempts for fight sleep.

Paige felt tired as well but Walter had warned her that staying up late one night to beat the jetlag would be ultimately beneficial. She grins at the thought of her boss, even if she knew she shouldn't. The pair had agreed to keep their relationship professional. Yet, realistically, that wasn't the case.

She couldn't help but notice that he was almost always attempting to make her laugh. Whether it is from clever word play or premeditated planning with Ralph.

"He likes you." Mrs. O'Brian comments as she hands Paige a stack of China plates to set up for dinner.

"Who?" Paige asks confused.

"Walter." The woman shrugs. " I haven't seen him so happy since he was a child. Oh the way Megan would make him laugh!"

"She has a gift." Paige blushes.

"So do you." The woman practically sings. " You must be very special to him. It's the only reason he would have brought you here."

Paige blushes as she sets up the plates.

"Well Walter and Ralph are best friends and I'm better with emotions than Walter is, so it was really pretty logical to bring us here."

"Did he tell you that?" She questions with a raised eyebrow.

"Basically." She chuckles. "But that's Walter."

"All I'm saying is that Walter hasn't been here since Megan could travel long distances. Suddenly, he not only comes but also is convinced to stay here for the holidays. It's a miracle in my book."

"But your husband-"

"Won't make it to Christmas." She sighs sadly, "Walter has no obligation to be here and yet, here he is." The woman's walks up to Paige and hugs her. " Thank you."

Paige smiles at her when the woman lets go and continues setting the table. She isn't sure what to respond.

"And if you want," Mrs. O'Brian chirps up, " I have plenty of hilarious pictures and videos of him for you to watch." She winks.

Paige can't help but laugh. " Thank you, I will definitely make use of those."

A few moments pass in comfortable silent as the pair continues to set the table.

"Paige?" A voice calls out gently. Paige feels a chill run down her spin. Why does she like it so much when he says her name?

"He likes you." Mrs. O' Brian sings.

"In here Walt!" Paige calls back as she laughs at the woman's immature behavior.

"Hi." The genius appears by the doorframe.

"Everything okay?" She questions, walking towards him. "Oh, I was just checking on you, you were gone a while." Paige smiles gently at him, feeling her heart begin to flutter.

"I'm alright Walter, I was just helping your mother with dinner."

"I'm planning on making your favorite, Dads fish reverie!" The woman exclaims proud of herself.

"That's your favorite?" Paige questions. She vaguely remembers making fish for dinner at the garage and he literally cringed but attempted to force it down his throat. She let him off the hook and ordered him takeout. He hated fish.

"Oh, yeah." Walter lies to his co-worker as smoothly as he could. "But- uh, you know who doesn't like fish?"

Paige watches him with an eyebrow raised.

"Ralph." Walter says. "Doesn't he love lasagna?" The Liaison smiles.

"Yeah," Paige smiles, "I can't believe I forgot."

Lasagna was both Ralph's and Walter's favorite food. She had once made a Pan big enough for everyone in the garage to have six pieces. Then she made the mistake of running to the corner store down the block to get some cinnamon for the coffee machine. She had left Walter in charge of Ralph and when she got back, the pan was empty. Him and Ralph had devoured it and she had to start from scratch. Yet, the pair still managed to scarf down a few pieces of the new one at dinner that night.

"But you love the fish." Mrs. O'Brian frowns. "You always eat it."

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Paige pulls Walter aside by his collar, "Excuse us."

"Yes?"

"I thought you hate fish, except sushi." Paige mumbles quietly, glancing at his suspicious mother over his shoulder. He leans down close to her to discreetly whisper in her ear. His hot breath and proximity made her shiver.

"I do, but I always ate it to make her happy, so help me before she starts making it."

Paige laughs before walking back towards the Mrs.

"It's okay, Mrs. O'Brian, I could make something else for Ralph-"

"No, no Paige, your a guest." Walker jumps in, "She didn't even start the oven yet, and I'm sure-"

"Lasagna it is." The woman sighs.

"Thank you." Paige smiles sweetly before walking towards her boss.

"Thank her and give her a kiss." Paige subtly reaches up on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

He frowns.

"Fine." He whispers, looking at his mother who was oblivious to the whole exchange.

"Mum, thanks. I uh, appreciate the thought." He goes over and scratches his head nervously, an O'Brian habit, Paige had observed.

"But whatever makes Ralph happy is what makes me happy." Paige could feel her heart melt at the truth of his words, meanwhile Walter was unaware of the effect he was having on her.

He quickly leans in and kisses his mothers cheek before exiting the room. His mother looks surprised, confused and happy all at once, as she watches her son retreat.

"You have to be careful." The woman looks at the liaison.

Paige sends her a confused look.

"If he keeps that up, people will think Ralph is his son."

Paige giggles.

"He wishes."

"Ralph or Walter?"

"Both." Paige shrugs.

Both the woman listen with amused smiles plastered on their faces as Walter yells, "Ralph! We are having lasagna for dinner!" And the small boy cheers.

"He's good for Ralph, he understands him. Ralph wouldn't talk to anybody besides me before he met Walter. Let alone hug. "

"Well then, that sounds familiar." The woman smiles, " because my son never hugged me until he met you."

Paige blushes and smiles bashfully at her shoes.

"Maybe that's all he needed, right?"

Paige looks up confused.

"Maybe we all need a liaison."

_Scorpion_

It was Paige's idea to leave the table and take her plate to Mr. O'Brian's bedroom.

Walter was reluctant to follow but did, his mother and Ralph following closing behind.

"He shouldn't eat alone, he's running out of time." Paige whispers.

It was Paige who kept the conversation rolling and put a smile on his parent's faces.

It was Paige who took the O'Brian's broken relationship and began mending it. It was Paige who began realizing just how deeply Walter did care about his family. It's then she learned something about Walter that she felt oblivious for not noticing before.

He believes in love. His problem was that he believed it too much.

So much so, in fact that he was afraid of it.

Every time his father coughed, Walter would freeze and every sneeze made him jump and as the night progressed, Walters's vision became more and more clouded.

She even touched his arm in an attempt to comfort him.

To her surprise he took her hand and held it tightly.

It was Paige who was now sitting very close to Walter on the couch laughing at old pictures of him as he explains where they were taken.

"Third place on a math competition?" She questions in confusion as she looked the picture. The picture showed a young Walter frowning in annoyance as a teenage Megan hugs him tightly.

"For sure rigged." Walter rolls his eyes. " The judges two sons won."

Paige chuckles as she tunes the page with a yawn.

"Is that Cabe?" She questions in surprise, looking at the older man with his hand on Walters shoulder. Walter looked up at him with excitement.

"Yeah, he looks younger, doesn't he?"

"Well it's been like... Twenty years." Paige yawns loudly and Walter reaches over to take the book from her.

"Okay, I think you have had enough making fun of me for today." He closes it and she frowns." You always have tomorrow."

"One more?" She pouts.

Walter looks at her, she's exhausted.

"You need to go to bed." He reminds her but passes her the book. She opens up to a random Paige.

"Another Christmas card." She muses, " I can't believe I forgot to make one this year."

"Yeah well," Walter closes the book and pushes himself off the couch. "It's one in the morning and you're about to pass out," He holds out his hand to help her up. "Come, I'll help you to my room."

She sighs as he pulls her up.

"I had a lot of fun today Walter." She sings. " Thanks so much for bringing me."

He smiles gently at her.

"Glad you like it."

"Ireland is a beautiful place." She says, stopping by the door and looking at him in the eyes.

He reminds himself that they agreed to be co-workers for the team's sake, but without thinking, he mumbles.

"Your beautiful."

She bits her lip gently; they only now realize their proximity and find the other leaning toward them until finally, their lips meet.

They had both been craving this kiss since their first one in the garage, a few months back.

It started off gently but slowly got more intense. Paige let out a small content hum as she slid her hands through his hair and Walter had her pushed against the wall and yet, pulled against him. She didn't want this to end and neither did he. For once in his life, his brain wasn't processing every detail in the room. His focus was completely on the girl in front of him.

He loved that girl.

It's then he quickly pulls away, sharply.

Like, attraction, okay.

Love?

He doesn't feel that emotion.

The pair was breathing deeply, Walters hands were removed from her waist and instead, were pressing against the wall on either side of her. He stays silent and attempts to process what just happened.

Her heart rate accelerates when he gently lifts his hand from the wall and traces her lips. His eyes were wide and she is careful not to move as Walter gently leans in a gently kisses her – just one more time - before pulling away.

"Sorry." He mumbles.

"Just friends and co-workers, right?" She sighs.

He doesn't have the time to respond as she quickly reaches up and kisses his cheek before entering the bedroom.

"Goodnight Walter." She says closing the door gently, her disappointment evident on her face.

She felt it the first time. The time when they had kiss in the garage after the satellite mission. Something special she hadn't felt with Drew. Something different – better, even.

She had denied it but she felt it now, again. It was clear as day.

It took her longer to fall asleep that night. Her lips continued to tingle.

Meanwhile, Walter sat on the couch for a bit. The Photo album was still open to an old Christmas card of his family. He closes the book and took out his computer.

He had an idea for Paige.

_PLEASE REVIEW_

_Scorpion_

_Review Please_

its not i didn't want to post- i. Tried 100 times,review


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